


Of Cops, Thieves and Nutcrackers

by Londonvetgirl25



Category: Sly Cooper (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24754741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Londonvetgirl25/pseuds/Londonvetgirl25
Summary: On a calm Christmas Eve night, our favorite thief steals a nutcracker doll. But is there more to this doll than meets the eye? Join him and the gang as he gets the Christmas experience he never expected. Crappy summary but please give this a chance. This is imported from my fanfiction account
Relationships: Sly Cooper/Carmelita Fox
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Sly Cooper series. Only the plot is my idea.

It was Christmas Eve and Paris was lit up with festive cheer. The streets shone with string lights wrapped around streetlamps and caused the falling snowflakes to glimmer like diamonds. People walked quickly through this wonderland to join their families for Christmas dinner and other festivities, content with the presents they had brought their loved ones.

However, not all the Parisians were of the same festive intent this night, for crime never sleeps, no matter what time of year. With this thought firmly in mind, Inspector Carmelita Fox patrolled through the dark museum. As an apparent Christmas gift to the people, the museum curator had decided to open an exhibit on Christmas day, displaying common toys in 17th century France. Carmelita herself had been charmed by the toys, which had included stern looking tin soldiers, an ornately carved dollhouse, stately dolls dressed in fine dresses and outfits appealing to young girls with dreams of love and nobility and as a crowning jewel, a rare nutcracker doll.

This nutcracker was of particular value as the creator was so talented in his time that he was rumored to have magical capabilities. Whether or not this was true, this nutcracker was the only one of its kind to have been made by this toymaker. Carmelita had to admit, while admiring the doll, that it was a stately piece. Its military uniform was blue with yellow trim and a golden sword at its hip and it stared out at the world with an expression of utmost determination. She found herself imagining a certain raccoon thief wearing such an ensemble and expression and had to stop herself from laughing out loud. That ladrón was never serious, she thought to herself. The day he took things seriously would be the day she became a thief. Ha! The very idea of it…

Unknown to the good inspector, the object of her internal monologue was watching her patrol with a slight smirk that could be consider his trademark. Sly Cooper, the notorious master thief, had plans that also involved a certain nutcracker. It would serve as a wonderful Christmas gift for the gang, he mused, what with the amount of money it would bring on thief net. Or he could give it to the lovely Inspector Fox for Christmas, just so he could see her lovely face when she inevitably exploded with wrath. His musings were cut short as his binocucom rang. Putting it up to his face, he saw Bentley, genius extraordinaire, looking at him expectantly.

"Alright Sly, the nutcracker is on the 3rd floor next to the Medieval section-", Bentley started.

"So, I just gotta sneak in past Sir Galleth's wardrobe and grab the doll" noted Sly.

"Roughly speaking yes, but you also have to get past Carmelita" replied Bentley who was long used to Sly's frequent interruptions.

"Ah, the highlight of my holiday! I think she would love having a doll, huh Bentley? Maybe I can grab her one."

"Sly, NO. Just get the stupid nutcracker and get out." Said Bentley firmly.

"Aw, don't take away my fun! Besides this is the season of giving, it is a civic and moral duty to provide the good inspector with a thoughtful gift."

"Whatever, Sly, just get the doll." With that Bentley hung up, evidently annoyed with Sly's (in his opinion) misplaced enthusiasm.

Sly chuckled to himself. "Good old Bentley, always looking out for me and Murray. Well, that nutcracker isn't going to steal itself, I'd better head on." And with that, he vaulted off the roof of the building across the street from the museum, snagged a clothesline with his trusted cane and sprung up to the museum roof, where he slipped inside through an open window.

Once inside, Sly looked around the darkened interior. He noticed that the exhibit was guarded by a set of laser beams that would sound the alarm if tripped. This was not an issue for him, it could almost be considered routine. Thus, less than five minutes later, he had the nutcracker doll in hand and was making his way out of the building when-

"Freeze Ringtail!" cried a familiar Latina voice.

"My lovely senorita, what a wonderful holiday surprise" said Sly with his trademark smirk.

"The only lovely surprise here will be the sight of you spending your holidays behind bars" snarled Carmelita.

"Now, put the nutcracker down gently then put your hands where I can see them."

"Oh, you mean like this?" Sly showed her his free hand which held a smoke bomb that was quickly detonated. When the smoke cleared, the Cooper had vanished. She hurried up to the roof where she got a glimpse of a striped tail whisking around the corner of a chimney and took off in hot pursuit, firing her handy shock pistol at the thief's retreating back. After chasing him across four rooftops, they both came to a dead end.

"It's over Ringtail, you are under arrest and have the right to remain silent" Carmelita triumphantly, yet cautiously due to past experience, approached her target until she was only a few paces away. Before Sly could reply, the nutcracker doll he had hung onto suddenly opened its mouth and gold dust shot out of the opening, spraying both Sly and Carmelita. Sly, however was the first to recover, and quickly seized his opportunity to escape, rushing past Carmelita and expertly slipping something in her hair as he did. Carmelita finally stopped coughing and blinking and saw that Cooper was gone. She rushed to the edge of the roof to see Sly on top of his gang's van waving to her and shouting "Feliz Navidad Inspector!".

"I'LL GET YOU TU ESTUPIDO LADRÓN" Carmelita screamed at the retreating figures, sending off a few parting shots with her shock pistol in fury after them. As she went to run her hands through her hair in vexation, her hand met unexpected resistance. She brought her hand in front of her face to find that she had grabbed a sprig of mistletoe and a note saying, "I look forward to meeting you under a door with this gift. From your favorite thief" ending with the Cooper clan logo. With a muttered curse, she threw the mistletoe to the ground and stomped on it but kept the note so she could burn it later. With a sigh, she left the roof top and trudged back to be chewed out by her boss again then return to her apartment to spend Christmas Eve preparing for family that was to be visiting the next day.

Meanwhile, the Cooper gang made their way back to their hideout. "So Sly, I guess you didn't get a doll for Carmelita for Christmas" Bentley snickered.

"Hey, I was going to but then something weird happened" Sly said defensively.

"What, Carmelita actually managed to hit you with a shock blast for once?" snickered Murray, their strongman and getaway driver. "No" Sly snapped, "this doll shot gold dust at Carmelita and I".

"Strange" said Bentley, examining the doll. "I'll have to run some tests on it in the morning. Are you feeling alright, no signs of nausea or fatigue?" He said, worried that his friend may have been poisoned. "I feel fine Bentley." "Alright, let me know if anything changes", said Bentley, "Meanwhile, I am going to start examining the doll and see if we can get a good price for it on ThiefNet."

"OK, Bentley, how about you Murray?"

"Well, I was going to see if I can make some good eggnog then break my record for eating the most gingerbread cookies in an hour" said Murray enthusiastically.

Sly chuckled, "I guess I will leave you to it" he said as they pulled up to their hideout which was an old apartment near the Eiffel tower. He hopped out of the van and made his way up to his room, thinking of nothing except relaxing while reading excerpts out of his family's legendary tome, the Thievius Raccoonus (AN: sorry if I misspelled it) and wondering what Christmas surprises he could get the gang with the money the nutcracker would bring. As he changed out of his thieving attire, he suddenly got a weird sense that everything seemed a tad bigger than normal and his pajamas were a little loose on him. He shook the thought off and decided that the adrenaline of this heist was making him imagine things. With a small sigh, he got into bed to sleep off his exhaustion with one last thought as he quickly nodded off- what was that strange gold dust?

Little did he know, but he would find the answer upon awakening. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Sly Cooper series; they belong to Sony/Sanzaru.

The first thing Carmelita noticed upon waking was that she felt cooler than she normally did when waking up in her warm bed. She sat up and looked around only to find that she was not in her room at all. The room she was, to put it bluntly, _blue_. Royal blue covered the walls, bed coverings, pillows and desk seat. Speaking of the bed, while looking at the bed cover, she caught sight of herself as she looked down.

Rather than her normal comfortable sleep wear of sweat pants and T-shirt, she was wearing a bright red dress, typical of 17th century women. Short-waisted with a soft, loose skirt, the gown was made of muslin and very comfortable and had a ribbon the color of red wine around the waist with lace the same color around the collar and at her sleeve cuffs*. For a short, ludicrous moment, she thought that this was a good look for her. Then the enormity of the situation hit her. Here she was in a complete stranger's room, wearing clothes that did not belong to her and she did not have a clue how she ended up in said situation.

In the midst of her growing panic, she caught site of a familiar object on the desk. A Cooper calling card sat on the desk, presumably to be used as a book mark. Carmelita's rage knew no bounds at this point. How dare that basura de baja calidad** kidnap her then strip her in such a manner! She quickly got up and, although unarmed, made her way downstairs with the intent of exacting suffering the likes of which should not be seen, especially on Christmas.

However, upon her descent, she could not find any of the Cooper gang members. Where were they? Why would they kidnap her, then leave her so she could potentially give up the location of their hideout as well as many of their stolen treasures? But as she wandered through the 3-bedroom apartment, she began to notice other abnormalities. "Are these guys overly enthusiastic about Christmas or what?" She wondered as she observed garlands strung on every shelf, mistletoe and wreaths at every door, every surface covered with some sort of tinsel or garland and lots of lit candles. In their living room, she found an enormous 8-foot tall Christmas tree- seriously, these guys are good but even they would have struggled to get this monstrosity inside, not to mention lavishly decorate it as this tree was, with tinsel, garlands, real candles (fire hazards Carmelita thought privately) and what looked like a real gold star on top.

Tearing her eyes away from the tree, she noticed perhaps the strangest thing of all. There on the ground, seemed to be a small array of toy tin soldiers. Kneeling down, she noticed that one looked to be a turtle and one a hippo, eerily similar to Bentley and Murray. Strangest of all was at their head was a nutcracker that looked almost exactly like the one Sly stole the previous night. Upon closer inspection, Carmelita saw that this nutcracker was different in the face. While the one at the museum had a generic, painted face, this doll's face seemed to be an exact wooden carving of Sly's face. "Did these guys make toys of themselves to play with?" She wondered, "And why would they bring me here?". Then a horrible thought struck her. She remembered the golden dust she had been sprayed with just a few hours earlier. Had she been sprayed with a hallucinogen? She must have been because there was no way that the horrible thought she had just had could be true. There was no way that these dolls could be the actual Cooper gang? Could it?

Just then, a strange warm breeze filled the room. Flecks of the same gold dust were carried on the breeze. They twirled and spun through the air, moving towards the center of the room to form a miniature tornado. The cyclone grew brighter and brighter, forcing Carmelita to close her eyes. Once the light had died down, she opened her eyes. Where the tornado had been stood a figure she never thought she would see again after the time traveling fiasco, calmly brushing dust off his person as if he had just walked through some pollen.

There in the center of the room was none other than Tennessee Kid Cooper.

This was turning out to be one strange Christmas.

**feel free to translate on google translate


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Sly Cooper series, I just own/came up with the plot

Carmelita could only stare at the man for a few moments, during which she noticed that his usual outfit of orange and brown was now red and green although he still sported his handy Cooper cane pistol. Then she spluttered, "What are YOU doing here?" Tennessee merely chuckled, "That's a mighty fine way to say hello, it's nice to see ya too darlin'. I see you got yourself a mighty fine Christmas present there" he nodded toward the Sly nutcracker.

"As to what I'm doin' here, well it all has to do with that nutcracker there."

"Ya see", began Tennessee, "I happen to know the fella who made this nutcracker. A guy by the name of Drosselmeyer. We met when he briefly came out west a little after y'all managed to stop ole Toothpick when he helped me steal back my gun from people he claimed had destroyed his toy shop back in Europe- it's a long story" Tennessee said quickly when he saw Carmelita about to ask. "What matters now is that he had some _abilities,_ so to speak, when it came to his toys. He could imbue certain characteristics and magic stuff in 'em to, as he put it, help 'em get their priorities straight."

"That's muy bueno, but what does this have to do with us and why are you here?" asked Carmelita impatiently.

"Well, if I had to guess on the first point, Sly and you may need some help getting your priorities straight- I'm guessin' your stint in the past didn't do much to help your guys relationship." Tennessee observed with a knowing gleam in his eye. Carmelita shuffled uncomfortably for a moment before she fired back "Your descendent hasn't helped matters, constantly making my life un verdadero infierno* and not making any time for us." She blushed, not intending to reveal so much of her feelings on the matter.

"That brings me to the next point- I'm pretty sure my role here is to help ya sort things out and what better day to do so than Christmas" said Tennessee, moving on. "What if I don't want to "sort things out"; what if I just walked out of this situación loca right now?" spat Carmelita, who was rather tempted to do just that. For the first time, she saw the outlaw become annoyed with her. "Then" he stated bluntly, "Sly and his amigos are stuck as toys permanently." This stopped Carmelita in her tracks. Whatever her feelings for Sly, she knew that Bentley and Murray did not deserve such a fate since they were good men with big hearts for all they were thieves. As for Sly…she would never forgive herself if she didn't at least free him, their relationship aside.

"Alright," she decided, "what do we do now?"

"Now we need to see if we can have everyone join the party. But first ya need ta get down to their level" said Tennessee with a mischievous wink and matching smirk. Before she could ask, Tennessee flicked the hand that wasn't holding onto his gun toward her and more gold dust surged towards her. It whirled around her and as it did, Carmelita could see the world around her grow larger and larger. Unnerved, she shut her eyes until she felt the breeze stop. She opened her eyes and gasped. Everything- the furniture, the Christmas tree, the presents and (disturbingly) Tennessee, towered over her having grown enormous in size. Or rather, she realized, she had shrunk. Carmelita looked around to find that she was now just a little shorter than the nutcracker, somewhere around six inches. She looked back up at Tennessee. Is this what Sly felt when he looked at me that time in Australia, she wondered.

"How did you do that?"

"What?" He asked, she was so small that her voice didn't carry very far.

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" Carmelita yelled.

"Oh, the magic that brought me here also gave me some powers for this here situation, or so Drosselmeyer told me. He also gave me a few pointers on how ta use it. Let me join ya and the rest of the party."

Carmelita scoffed at calling their present situation a "party" as Tennessee shrunk down in a similar way.

"Now let's wake everybody up" said Tennessee happily. He waved his hand and the now familiar gold dust swirled around the nutcracker and tin soldiers, leaving Carmelita and Tennessee to watch as the toys slowly blinked awake.

*verdadero infierno= a living hell (not sure if this word will make the rating go up to T)

Sly came slowly to his senses, feeling oddly heavy and stiff. Once he opened his eyes however, he jolted awake, completely stunned by his surroundings. Instead of his room, he seemed to be in the living room of their hideout. Even weirder was that the place was much more decorated than he clearly remembered and everything around him was absolutely giant. Well, almost everything… Looking around he spotted one of the least likely people he would have ever imagined to be in their hideout.

First, he saw Carmelita who seemed to be wearing an old-fashioned, yet elegant red dress. Despite the change in her attire, her expression was the usual grumpy yet adorable look he adored. "Carmelita-" he began and took a step towards her but stopped as he noticed that his movements were still oddly stiff and not at all up to their usual grace and flexibility. Glancing down at himself, he wished he hadn't. For starters, he was not wearing his pajamas or even his normal thieving outfit, but a blue military uniform with yellow trim. He also noticed that his cane had changed into a rapier with only the sword's handle retaining the Cooper cane. But these changes he barely noticed because, instead of beholding cloth and fur, everything seemed to be wood and paint.

He whirled around, to get a better look at himself (especially his tail which was now comprised of blocks of wood and much clunkier) and noticed a reflective surface in one of the ornaments hanging down from the Christmas tree behind him. Stumbling over to it, he saw his face and nearly fainted. It was mostly the same except for the startling fact that it was now wood and, unless his eyes deceived him, his lower jaw seemed a little more prominent than usual.

As Sly came to grips with his unexpected appearance, Carmelita came up beside him, looking unusually concerned. "Ringtail, are you alright?" She asked, her voice rather gentle.

"I- I think so," Sly stammered, "but what in the world happened to me? Why are you here? Do you know what's going on?"

"I do but I am not the best person to explain it" she stated, slowly regaining her normal disgruntled tone. "Then who is" snapped Sly, his current predicament having shaken him out of his usual suave composure.

"That would be me" came a familiar voice to his left. Sly spun around only to find yet another person he would never expect to find in his gang's hideout. "T-Te-Tennessee" Sly spluttered, "How the heck did you get to our time?"

"I'll be explainin' everythin' momentarily, but first you should check on your pals" Tennessee said calmly. Sly turned around to find yet another surprise. Bentley and Murray also seemed to have changed, wearing military uniforms that matched their normal outfits in color and seemed to be made of tin (unlike Sly). What's more, Bentley did not have his wheelchair and was indeed standing on his own. Both of the other gang members were in the process of blearily shaking their heads and wiping dust out of their eyes. Just as Sly was contemplating walking over to them and giving them a good shake to fully wake them, they finally noticed their surroundings.

"Uh hey Bentley, where are we? And why does "The Murray" look so funny?" asked Murray.

Bentley could only yammer in response, ranting something about the mathematical improbabilities of transformation and spontaneous magical decoration. At this point, Sly came over to them.

"SLY!" yelled Bentley and Murray. "What the heck is going on?"

"Well, I'm not sure myself but Tennessee and Carmelita here were just waiting to explain it" said Sly smoothly. The other gang members wheeled around to behold Carmelita and Tennessee standing there.

"Gadzooks, Tennessee you're here too?" exclaimed Bentley, wondering if his time machine was somehow related to the mess they were in now.

"Yessiree" said Tennessee "and if ya'd let me, I'll explain about what's going on here." He then proceeded to give the same explanation as he had given to Carmelita about his friend Drosselmeyer and his talents at toy making and the magic's goal of setting Sly and Carmelita's priorities straight. "That's all very well and good, but the doll didn't spray Murray and I with the gold dust so why are we here?" Bentley wondered aloud. "Well, funny thing about that" said Tennessee sheepishly, "my friend said that a lot of times the toys would bring others along, so to speak, to help out the people in question."

"So, you're saying that Murray and I are just along for the ride" observed Bentley. "Yep, that about sums it up" chirped Tennessee. Bentley just sighed, "Not so different than normal then."

Carmelita, who had been silent up to this point, gave a sigh herself. That ringtail, always dragging his friends into his mess. But before she could say anything on the subject, Murray came over to her and patted her gently on the shoulder in a comforting way and, despite herself, she gave a small smile.

"How precisely will this "set our priorities straight" queried Sly. "Ya just have to wait and see."

"Aren't you supposed to be helping?" asked Sly annoyed. "I am, partner, in my own way." Tennessee remarked, unperturbed by the slight growling of both Carmelita and Sly.

Before anyone could say anything further, they were interrupted by an arrow lodging itself in the floor at their feet.

"Well, well who do we have here?" sneered a familiar voice, "Ze Cooper rats!" Cyrille Le Paradox was glaring down at them from one of the branches of the Christmas tree.

AN: because who else would make a great Rat King?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Sly Cooper series (which belongs to Sanzaru/Sony) or the Nutcracker. The only thing I really own at this point is student debt.

"Really" cried Bentley in exasperation "You gotta be kidding me" Murray added.

"Not you again" said Carmelita, bristling.

"Yes, it is me. But this time I have ze advantage." Le Paradox smirked. He was especially angry this time as not only had he been defeated by Sly from rewriting time but also Sly had stolen the nutcracker doll from his newest museum. He had planned on using the exhibit as an opportunity to pull a major heist on the people of Paris on Christmas day. It would have helped him recover a large portion of the fortune he had had to spend to bribe his way out of his smell-containing cell in prison.

His so-called "advantage" became clear as an army of rat soldiers (AN: still wearing the same uniforms they wore in the 4th game despite their current setting) surrounded the gang.

To everyone's surprise, Sly and Tennessee started to snicker.

"It makes sense" gasped Sly between bouts of laughter. "Yeah, who else would ya reckon is a perfect Rat King?" Added Tennessee as soon he recovered.

Bentley face-palmed. Carmelita rolled her eyes. Murray looked confused.

Le Paradox was livid. "You think zis is funny?" the villainous skunk snarled. "You just keep laughing as zis time, I have ze last laugh." And, pointing at Carmelita yelled "Seize ze fox."

At this, the Cooper gang began to defend themselves against their attackers. Sly at first had a harder time due to his stiffer joints but he soon regained his usual prowess, using his cane to hold off the oncoming waves of rat soldiers trying to grab Carmelita. Bentley, despite not having his wheelchair, had his crossbow for whatever reason and was launching sleeping bombs at all the rats. Murray had the least trouble as he still had his tremendous strength aside from Tennessee who used his Cooper pistol to "discourage" the rats with a well-placed bullet to the hand or feet, causing them to keep their distance. The vixen in question lacked her shock pistol and was somewhat hampered by her dress, but she was an excellent hand-to-hand fighter (as Sly could attest) and managed to ward off her attackers until a stink bomb thrown by Le Paradox himself blew the Cooper gang away from Carmelita. In desperation, Carmelita removed a shoe, the only thing she could really use as a weapon and hurled it at her attackers. Due to her not-so-great aim (which again, Sly can attest to) she missed the rats but somehow managed to hit Le Paradox, breaking his nose.

"Agh!" He yelled, just as the rats managed to grab Carmelita and drag her away. "Carmelita" shouted Sly, trying to get past the rats but before he could, Le Paradox leapt down, holding what looked like a regal scepter made of gold with a sky blue crystal on top. "You will pay for this, wench" he snarled passed his bloody nose. He pointed the scepter at her as the jewel began to glow. Snowflakes surrounded Carmelita and she disappeared just as Sly managed to get past the rats. "WHERE IS SHE?" Sly bellowed.

"Why she is right here." Cyrille smirked as dodged a blow from Sly's cane and gestured to the scepter. Inside the crystal, Sly could just make out Carmelita who was shaking her head and angrily muttering what looked like "Why do I always get kidnapped by this mofeta estupido*."

"Release her right now" said Sly, "unless you want a repeat of what happened on your blimp."

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't" said Le Paradox slyly.

"What's that supposed to mean" snapped Bentley.

"Fight me Cooper" said Cyrille, "I want revenge for what you did on zat blimp. If you win, which you won't, then she goes free. If not, zen she belongs to me." He finished leering.

"Fine" snapped Sly, who stepped forward, preparing to bring Le Paradox down (again).

"Sly, wait a minute" interjected Tennessee quickly. "What is it?" Sly asked.

"See that fancy stick that idiot has there?"

"Yeah, what about it."

"It belonged to my old buddy Drosselmeyer. Be careful not to break it or ya could lose Carmelita forever. Are we clear?" Tennessee explained.

"Crystal. It's time to stop the rat king."

*mofeta estupido= stupid skunk according to Google translate


	5. Chapter 5

Sly leapt at Le Paradox, hoping to snag the scepter with his cane. But Le Paradox, anticipating this, leapt backwards and back onto the Christmas tree. "Nah ah ah, Cooper. You'll have to catch me first.

"Sly!" Yelled Carmelita. "Hang on Carmelita, I'm coming for you." Sly said, "I will not let this skunk take you away from me again." As Sly jumped from branch to branch, navigating his way after Le Paradox, Carmelita couldn't help but remember the last time she had been kidnapped by the villainous skunk. As she had been dangled in the blimp window, she had clearly seen the fearful yet determined look on Sly's face, almost as if he was fully realizing he might be losing something that he had never thought he would lose. Now, however, she only saw grim determination, a look that told her that he would be damned before he lost her again. _It seems he has some of his priorities set, at least according to Tennessee_ , thought Carmelita. _But what about me?_ She had always seen herself as an unflagging enforcer of the law, a protector of the innocent from the darkness of the criminal element. Yet, her recent time travel adventure had shown her that protectors existed in all areas, including both sides of the law. So, should she continue to put the good of Interpol first? _Or should I "prioritize" all protectors of the law? Should I prioritize Sly?_ The man had shown time and time again that he was devoted, in his own wayward manner, to protecting those victimized by crime by shutting down crime lords. True, he gained some benefit for himself and his gang, but their main priority was taking down bad guys. _Maybe they are right. Whatever he may be, he does a better job than Interpol at protecting people and he loves me_. Carmelita mused. Looking Sly, she could also see the man (well doll at the moment) had changed, from a simple flirt seeking to make her life harder for fun to someone who took her wellbeing as one of his most important objectives in life. She resolved to do the same for him.

Meanwhile, Sly himself, amidst traversing the tree using the branches, ornaments and lights, also reflected on the last time he had almost lost her. Come to think of it, he had almost lost her quite a few times. Le Paradox's blimp, Clockwerk's gas chamber, the Contessa's prison and Dr. M's monster had all been wake up calls to him about how much Carmelita meant to him again. Yet, even now after their adventure through time, he was falling back to simply teasing Carmelita for fun and just assuming that she would be there. _I keep telling myself that I am going to be a better man for her but, really, I'm just a big kid. I just take her for granted and I can't do that anymore_ Sly chided himself. She was far too precious to him- why? Because she was the one woman who understood him, even if she was taking a while to accept him, and she was the only woman he wanted to spend his life with. Her tenacity, fiery personality and overall goodness inspired him to be a better thief, better friend and a better man. Speaking of friends, he recalled Bentley's remark about being dragged into his mess again and felt a twinge of guilt. Bentley and Murray had chosen to become members of his gang since they all considered each other brothers but they hadn't chosen to get involved with all his messes. It wasn't fair that they were now tin toys, dependent on the success of his and Carmelita's "mission." _I gotta make this up to them_ thought Sly _I took them away from their lives outside the gang, even if unintentionally. I'll be a better friend_. With these thoughts, Sly swung himself up onto the top of the tree from one of the many ornaments.

At the top of the tree the branches were almost flat and seemed to form a platform, above which loomed a (from his point of view) giant gold star that lit the area around them. Le Paradox, having found himself cornered hissed. "So you want her, come and get her" he spat, and launched the scepter onto the star while pulling out his rapier. (AN: check out Wizard's in Winter by the Trans Siberian Orchestra for background music to this battle scene). The two battled with Sly using his cane and Le Paradox seemed to have the upper hand due to Sly's unfortunate clunkiness. However, his unexpected transformation turned out to be something of an advantage when suddenly, Le Paradox landed a blow on Sly's right upper arm.

"SLY!" gasped Carmelita. But to her relief, there was no blood, only a thin cut on the wooden surface.

"Don't worry Carmelita, you'll be out of there in no time" said Sly, ducking a blow towards his head. The two combatants locked weapons and strove to overpower the other. "Your dear inspector will be my toy, my plaything, and you will watch as she dies, just as you watched my plans fail" Le Paradox growled. That was a mistake. A cold fire entered the Cooper's eyes and before Le Paradox could react, Sly heaved him off the platform. They all watched as he fell, painfully hitting every branch as he went. But when he hit the ground, he simply disappeared in gold dust.

Sly climbed to the star and gently grabbed the scepter and peered into the crystal. "Carmelita-" he started. "I know" she cut him off softly.

"Nope, just nope." Came a voice from behind them. Turning around, Sly saw that Tennessee, Bentley and Murray had made their way up to the platform.

"Um…what do you mean by nope?" asked Sly.

"Son, the main reason you're in this mess is because ya never made your priorities clear, not just to yourself but to her. Ya need to say this out loud. The same goes for ya missy." Tennessee said, smirking around his trademark cigar.

"It's true Sly" added Bentley "I've watched for years as they two of you danced around each other and it's time for that to stop."

"Alright" Sly sighed. "But first, CAN SOMEBODY GET ME OUT OF HERE" said Carmelita pointedly.

"Oh yeah, almost forgot." Tennessee waved his hand again surrounding everyone in gold dust. When it cleared, Carmelita was relieved to see that she was in the outside world and they were no longer on top of the tree but in the center of the room. Looking back at the others, she was surprised to see that, while they were all still small, Sly and the gang were no longer toys but flesh and blood though still dressed in their toy outfits.

Sly himself barely noticed these new changes as he came towards her. "Carmelita" he began yet again "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for taking you for granted. I'm sorry for making your life a lot harder than it needs to be. If you forgive me, I plan on making it my mission in life to show you just how important you are to me. And for what it's worth, I love you."

"Sly" said a humbled Carmelita "I should be the one apologizing. Yes, it is my job to track you down but I took you for granted as well. I've seen how much good you do, how you protect innocents from the darkest criminals. More than that, I love you." Sly could barely contain his smile. As he approached her, a sprig of mistletoe suddenly hung over their head. "Time to seal the deal" smirked Tennessee who had the mistletoe hanging from his cane pistol and was holding it over them.

With a warm smile, they both leaned in and their lips met for a blissful moment. A moment so wonderful that it could have lasted and eternity, if breathing were not required. When they pulled apart, Carmelita gasped. She was no longer in the Cooper hideout but back in her apartment bedroom and she was alone.

**Am I evil for this cliffhanger? Don't worry, the next chapter will be up shortly.**

**P.S. I would just like to note that the idea for having Tennessee call out Carmelita and Sly for their lack of communication came from IronicSnap's work Of Heists and Hustles which I highly recommend. Have a great day!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone, this is the last chapter. Please read and review**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Sly Cooper series or the Nutcracker.**

Had it all just been a dream? But then she looked down at herself and saw that she was still wearing the red dress. Running a hand through her hair, she felt something that wasn't there previously. Grabbing it, she found that she was holding one of the familiar Cooper logo cards only this one was brown and orange and had a note on it.

_Dear Carmelita,_

_Sorry everything ended so sudden-like but once you made up with Sly, the magic considered your task done and released y'all. Anyway, just wanna say that I hope you keep my descendent happy and make sure he is always on the ball._

_Merry Christmas from your favorite outlaw, Ten_

Shaking her head, she decided that it would be a good idea to just _absorb_ what had just happened first before acting. Going to her kitchen to make breakfast and a cup of tea, she turned the news on out of habit. "And a very merry Christmas to you all in Paris" said a pretty white mink reporter. "Breaking overnight was the arrest of former millionaire and art thief Cyrille Le Paradox." Carmelita froze and rushed in front of the TV. "Monsieur Le Paradox was apprehended in the early hours of the morning during the continued investigation of a robbery from a small local art museum. Interpol officers apprehended the suspect as he tried to flee the scene, strangely enough covered in golden glitter." The TV showed a struggling Le Paradox being dragged into a police cruiser.

"Well" Carmelita thought "Let's hope he doesn't get out of his airtight cell again." At that moment, she heard a thump above her. _Just a bird_ she thought, going to the kitchen to get her tea. As she turned around, she came face to face with Sly. "DIOS MIO" she yelped in surprise.

"Sorry, sorry!" Sly said hurriedly. She noticed that he was wearing his normal thieving attire. "I just wanted to see you because- this is going to sound weird but I felt like I had this weird dream where- wait a minute that's the dress you were wearing and-" Carmelita cut him off. "Yes, last night actually happened and I have further proof." She showed him Tennessee's note.

"Huh" remarked Sly "I should be more surprised but this is almost nothing compared to our other adventures."

"Yeah" sighed Carmelita.

"But what I said last night was true. You are important to me and I want to start showing it to you. Would you like to come spend Christmas with me and the gang? They consider you practically family now."

"Well" Carmelita considered, "My family doesn't come until tomorrow so why not?"

Letting Sly lead her out of the apartment and onto the rooftops, she knew that no matter what the future would bring, what would happen with her job at Interpol and her career as an officer of the law, it would all be ok because she had a new goal. A goal which would lead to a better future. _What a nice Christmas gift. I'll have to thank this Drosselmeyer if I ever meet him_.

Unbeknownst to both Sly and Carmelita, a brown and orange figure watched them go. Tennessee smirked. "Why I gotta thank ole Drosselmeyer for this. They are going to have great kids. Merry Christmas indeed." He then vanished in a swirl of gold dust

**Well this is the end, the grand finale! This was quite fun to write and I hope you have enjoyed it. I may go back and rewrite it next year because I know I will read this later and dislike some parts. Anyway, I am going to try and continue to write more works when I can.**

**Happy New Year!**


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